Surviving
by Anne.B.17
Summary: Anne is twenty years old when the world falls apart. She is trying to survive alone when she meets another survivor. Please give it a read. Updates at least once a week. *This fanfic does not include any TWD characters, although some plots/characters may be loosely based around the show.*
1. Chapter 1

_I haven't written anything in a very long time, so please let me know what you think! I would really appreciate your feedback. Thanks for reading!_

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**Chapter One**

I was twenty years old the first time I saw one of them.

I'd heard stories on the news about people behaving strangely, the CDC investigating a new disease, even an entire city being evacuated due to an outbreak of infection. But the details were always vague, and there wasn't much to worry about in Portage, Michigan. No one around here was concerned, we all carried about our business as usual.

It was a Thursday afternoon and my last class at Western Michigan University had commenced for the day. I was driving back to my apartment in my 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix - it wasn't in great shape, but it always got me where I needed to go. The highway was backed up, so I turned onto a side street to take a different way home. I remember thinking that I was too hungry to wait in traffic, but I had no idea what true hunger felt like back then.

After a few turns, I ended up in the Whispering Pines neighborhood. It ran parallel to the highway, which made it a simple alternate route. I always thought I'd like to live there someday. The houses were immaculate, they all had manicured lawns, and something about it felt comforting. It was a nice neighborhood, away from the busier parts of the small city.

As I was admiring the houses, I noticed a person limping down the middle of the street. Her clothes were dirty, and her long brown hair, nearly the same color as mine, looked matted. I could see a large rip in her jeans. As I got closer, I was able to see that the dirt on her clothing was actually blood. I began to slow down, thinking she may need help. I rolled down my window as I drove closer. Just as I was about to call out to the woman, a police car sped by with lights on and sirens blaring, and the woman turned.

I will never forget her face. The flesh had been torn from her left cheek, and there were blood stains on her chin. I stopped my car, but I couldn't take my eyes off her.

Two officers got out of the police car, guns aimed at the woman. The one closer to me waved frantically at me to back up my vehicle, but I was frozen.

The officers were yelling commands at the woman as she approached them. She was groaning loudly as she limped. Once she was about ten feet away, the one that had waved for me to back up shot her in the chest. I was in too much shock to react. But the woman didn't fall. She stumbled back from the shot, and then kept limping towards them, her groaning increasing in volume. The other officer shot her again, this time in the head, and she fell.

I was frozen in place. I vaguely recall one of the officers coming over to me, asking if I was alright. I remembered him calling me 'miss'. I think I nodded in reply. He told me I should go home, and call the police if I saw anything out of the ordinary.

I stayed there for a long while, replaying the event over and over in my mind. I don't know how much time had passed before I finally went home.

* * *

Sometimes, on mornings like this, I would replay that day in my mind. How everything in my life went from painstakingly normal to devastatingly catastrophic in a manner of minutes. I remember fussing over my hair that morning, it never seemed to lay flat, even though I just had it cut to shoulder length the week before. I was stressed because I had overslept and would have to rush to make it to class on time now. I almost laughed - those things seemed so trivial now.

I was sitting in an abandoned train car, somewhere on the outskirts of Chicago. I had heard there was a safe haven in this area from one of my former classmates, but I hadn't seen another human being in weeks.

This station only had a few inhabitants when I arrived, those which I now referred to as walkers - the walking dead - but I was able to clear them rather quickly. I had a pistol, but it was best not to use it unless I had to. The sound attracted them, and I only had a few bullets. My knife, the one I took from my own kitchen when I left, worked well enough.

I wasn't sure if any more walkers had approached by now, and after the best night sleep I'd had in weeks, I slowly opened the door to the train car a few inches. I blinked a few times to adjust my eyes to the light, and then opened the door the rest of the way. I scanned around, but I didn't see any movement. I reached for my backpack, full of nothing but a few items of clothing and an empty water bottle, and put it on my back. I jumped out of the car, and started walking along the length of the train. I pulled my knife out of my pocket, and held on tight. Out of habit, I reached around to the gun in the back of my jeans, just to make sure that it was still there.

I wanted to find the safe haven I had heard about, they called it Horizon, but I needed to eat something first. It had been two days since I'd had any food, or maybe it was three days now, it was hard to keep track. I'd drank the last of my water the night before, so I'd need to find more water, too.

I knew that I needed to venture away from the tracks if I had any hope of finding supplies, but I didn't know how congested this area would be. My car had finally died a few miles from here the night before, it was too dark to see much as I ran. I was hoping that I might get lucky, maybe there was a vending machine some hadn't emptied yet, or maybe someone had dropped some supplies by the train, but there was nothing but dead walkers.

The sun was still rising, and as the temperature began to rise along with it, I knew that I had to get water. I veered away from the train, and started to walk towards what I thought would be the closest town.

I only walked for about an hour, avoiding the street and staying in the woods as much as possible, before I could see what had once been a nice neighborhood. The houses were all oversized, most of them had pools, one even had a tennis court. I could only imagine what this place had looked like before the world fell apart. Now all of the homes had broken windows and doors, there were bodies in the street, and an eery sense of emptiness filled the cul-de-sac.

I walked up to one of the first houses on the block. It was all white, with blue shutters and a large blue door that appeared to have been kicked in. I cautiously stepped inside, keeping my eyes wide and scanning around. I listened, but didn't hear anything except for my own breath. I walked to the left and found myself in the kitchen. Anything in the fridge would be long spoiled, so I quietly opened the cupboards first. There wasn't much left, but I found a box of crackers and half a jar of peanut butter. I put both in my backpack. I went back to the fridge, and held my breath before opening it. There were a few bottles of water in there, so I grabbed them quickly before closing the door. I opened one and drank the entire bottle, and then put the other two into my backpack.

I walked out of the back doorway of the kitchen, through the dining room, and into the bathroom. I opened up the medicine cabinet, but it had been wiped clean. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and jumped - I almost didn't recognize myself. My body was dirty, and it was obviously time for a change of clothes because mine were filthy. I shrugged out of my backpack, and set it on the counter. I pulled out a pair of jeans and a light blue t-shirt. I changed quickly, not wanting to linger in this house any longer than necessary. I put the dirty clothes into my pack, put it back over my shoulders, and headed for the door.

Once I was back on the street, I saw a walker coming towards me. I grabbed my knife and waited. Once it was close, I shoved the knife into its skull and pulled it back out. Blood spattered on me as the walker fell. 'Clean clothes never last long,' I thought to myself as I put my knife back in my pocket. I started to walk out of the neighborhood and back towards the train tracks. It was time to find Horizon.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you to everyone reading! I'm really enjoying writing this. I know the first two chapters have been a little slow, but chapter three is my favorite so far. Stay tuned, and please review! _

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**Chapter Two**

Once I got back to the train tracks, I continued to walk in the same direction I was headed in before. I didn't know exactly where Horizon was, but I knew it was somewhere in this direction. I could only hope that it wouldn't be too much further.

As I walked on, my mind wandered. I thought of my life before all of this, of the family I lost. I wondered if I would ever feel safe again. There was one day in particular, Christmas of last year, that came to mind.

My parent's had the party at their house, just like every year. They had a nice house in an expensive area just outside of the city. My mom was a doctor, and my dad was a CEO. I was majoring in nonprofit work, which was a disappointment to both of them, even though they liked to pretend it wasn't. The party was the same as it was every year. My parent's feigned interest in my life. My younger sister, Ashley, was eighteen and trying to hide how drunk she was from my parent's. My older brother, Aiden, was twenty-five and showed up late like usual. We exchanged gifts and had dinner before the extended family came over. It wasn't an outstanding memory, but it was one of the only ones I had left to hold onto. The world made sense back then.

After the world fell apart, I was with my family briefly. We were naively at my parent's house. It felt like nothing could harm us there, like we were safe. But we weren't.

It was only a month ago, but it felt like so much longer. We were sitting around the living room. My parents were talking, my sister was taking a nap, and my brother was throwing a ball against the wall. I was reading a book when I heard commotion outside, and the front door was creaking loudly. Everyone looked towards the noises, but I was the one that got up. I walked to the front of the house, and pulled back the blinds enough to see onto the front porch. "Run!" I yelled, but it was already too late.

The walkers pushed the door down and flooded in. There were too many of them for us to take on. I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. I tried to fight them off as I ran for the back door. "Anne!" I heard someone yell my name, but I still don't know who it was. All I could hear were the panicked screams of my family, and the loud groans of the walkers taking over the house. I took out as many as I could before exiting out the back door. I ran for a while before I felt safe enough to stop. I was a few miles from the house by then. I could have kept going, I _should_ have kept going, but I had to see for myself.

I turned back, my knife still in hand, and walked towards the house. My movements were slow, I wasn't in a hurry to see this. I was careful once I was closer, but it looked like the walkers had cleared out. I went in through the back door that I had left open, and into the living room. What I saw is still burned into my mind.

My parents dead on the floor, their bodies torn apart, their blood everywhere. My brother was gone, but my sister was there. Only, it wasn't Ashley anymore. She was feeding off what was left of my parent's flesh. I knew the change happened faster in some people than others, but I hadn't expected it so quickly. I knew that I couldn't leave her like this, so I took a step closer. She turned towards me, and the look in her eyes still haunts me. As she walked towards me, I raised my knife. "I'm so sorry," I whispered to her before putting the knife between her eyes.

After I pulled the knife out, I remember collapsing onto the floor and sobbing. I hadn't cried like that before, and I haven't since.

I tried to shake the memory from my mind as I walked. More time had passed than I realized, and the sun was soon setting. I found an open train car and got inside. I closed the doors completely except for half an inch on one side, just enough to see with until the sun went down. I took off my backpack and pulled out the crackers and my last water bottle. The heat was overwhelming today, and I had drank my other one. I ate a few crackers, just enough to settle my stomach, and took a few sips of water. I wanted more, but I knew that I had to keep my food and water rationed. Tomorrow, I'd need to try and find more. It was the middle of June, and it was getting warmer every day. It wouldn't be so bad if there were clouds in the sky, but I hadn't seen one all day.

I never slept long, so I knew I should try to fall asleep now. I needed all the rest that I could get. I laid on my side and rested my head on my backpack. The last thing that flashed through my mind before I fell asleep was my sister.

* * *

When I woke up in the morning, I heard movement outside. I needed a drink of water, my mouth was dry and I felt weak, but I needed to take care of this first. I packed up my backpack, put it over my shoulders, and checked for my gun and knife. I held my knife tightly in my hand as I looked through the crack in the train car door. I only saw two walkers, and they were close.

I pulled the door open quickly and jumped out. I used my knife on the first walker, and she went down. When I turned for the second one, his hand hit my arm and I dropped the knife. I tried to reach for it, but he was still coming, reaching for me. I stumbled back, hitting the train car hard with my backpack. He was almost close enough to bite me. I used all of the strength I had in me and shoved him back long enough to reach for the knife. Then I turned and pushed it into his skull. When I pulled it back, only the handle came out of his head. "Shit," I muttered to myself. I knew that a chef's knife wouldn't last long, but it was all I had at the time. My gun only had three bullets, and it would draw other walkers to me. My only hope was finding a store that hadn't been completely wiped clean, or finding supplies that others had left behind. I stayed there for a few minutes, letting the adrenaline fade, before continuing to walk along the tracks. If Horizon was close, it wouldn't matter that I didn't have my knife anymore.

My mouth was still dry, so I opened my backpack to get my water. When I reached inside, everything was wet. The water bottle must have broken when it'd hit the train car. I sighed, and threw the crumpled water bottle onto the ground. I wrung out my clothes as best I could, and then started to walk. There was nothing I could do about it standing around. I had to find more water, and I needed another weapon to do that. My only hope was finding Horizon before a walker found me.

The sun had just come up, and I was already sweating from the heat. I walked on for hours, ignoring the signals my body was sending me. My legs were heavy, my mouth was dry, and every step sent pain through my body.

It had to be close to sunset now, and at least the temperature would drop then. I trudged on slowly, trying to keep my body upright. I hadn't stopped walking all day, and my body was about to give in, but I wasn't ready yet. I had to get somewhere safe.

After a few more hours, my legs buckled beneath me and I fell. Darkness started to take over my vision, and I was losing consciousness. I was vaguely aware of the sound of movement near me, but I didn't have the strength to move. 'Let it be quick' was my last thought before the darkness overcame me.


	3. Chapter 3

_To clear up any confusion with this chapter - the new character introduced is named Glenn but is NOT Glenn from TWD. He is a character I've had in my head for a long time._

_Thank you to everyone reading! Please review :)_

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**Chapter Three**

I regained consciousness gradually. I was aware of the cold feeling of concrete through the back of my shirt. My mouth was dry, and my eyes felt too heavy to open. I slowly became aware of what happened before I passed out. I had heard movement around me, presumably a walker closing in, so why wasn't I dead? Or - was I? Is this what it felt like to become one of them?

I heard breathing, other than my own, and my eyes flew open.

The first thing I saw were his eyes, they were a deep blue color, and they were staring down at me. His hair was sandy blonde, and he had dirt caked on the side of his face. He was definitely human, but that didn't mean he was safe. I went to reach for my knife before remembering that it was gone. I reached for my gun instead, but it wasn't there. I sat up quickly, and the man leaned back. "Where's my gun?" I looked at the man as I spoke, preparing to fight if I needed to.

"Hey, take it easy," he said, his voice husky. His expression was soft and nonthreatening, but I couldn't trust a complete stranger.

"Where's my gun?" I repeated. I wanted to look around and see where I was, but I wasn't going to take my eyes off the stranger yet.

"It's in your bag," he replied and pointed to my side.

I looked down and saw my backpack. I opened it and pulled my gun out. I checked to make sure that it was still loaded and put it into the back of my jeans. Once it was securely there, I looked around. We were in what looked like a general store, although the shelves all looked empty. The windows and doors were boarded up and the fluorescent lights were flickering above us. We were in a back corner of the large room. I looked back at the man sitting in front of me. "Who are you?" I made an effort to sound more friendly when I spoke this time. He could have killed me if he wanted to.

"I'm Glenn. And you are?" He was looking at me with a peculiar expression on his face.

"I'm Anne," I replied hesitantly. I looked around the room again. "How did I get here?"

"I saw you collapse," Glenn said, still looking at me, "so I carried you here. You'd be walker food out there alone."

"Thanks." I wasn't used to accepting help from anyone, but I knew I owed him my life. "How do I get out of here?"

Glenn looked confused after a look of surprise flashed across his face. "You're not going anywhere just yet." My hand went to my gun instinctively. Glenn spoke again when he saw my reaction. "You collapsed," he clarified, "you need to rest."

"I'm fine." My body felt weak, but I needed to get moving. I tried to stand up, but my legs weren't up to the challenge. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours. Just rest for a while longer, and then I'll help you get back to the train tracks. Deal?"

I sighed, but nodded in agreement. I knew that I needed to rest, but I felt safer when I was on the move. "Where are we?"

"At an old pharmacy, just over a mile from where you were." Glenn reached into his pack and I tensed automatically, but he only pulled out a bottle of water. He held it out to me. "Here."

I took the water bottle and attempted to smile. "Thank you." I took a drink, but tried not to take too much. I held it back out towards Glenn.

"Keep it," he insisted, "I have more."

I drank some more of the water before setting it down next to me.

"So where are you heading?" Glenn asked.

I looked at him, deliberating. He hadn't given me a reason not to trust him thus far. "A place called Horizon," I said, "it's supposed to be a safe haven."

"How far is it?" He seemed interested. I wondered how long he had been alone.

"I don't know," I admitted, "It's supposed to be near Chicago."

Glenn nodded slightly. He looked like he was deliberating, but he didn't say anything else.

"Is this where you've been staying?" I moved so my back was pressed against the wall perpendicular to where Glenn was leaning.

"Mostly," he said, "but I picked the shelves dry a few weeks ago, so I've been going out for supplies every few days."

"You're alone?"

"I am now," he said with a sense of finality to his tone as he looked away. It was apparent that he didn't want to discuss that.

I looked at Glenn for a few moments before leaning my head back against the wall. "It's safe here?"

"As safe as anywhere else." His voice sounded more distant now, like he was keeping some thoughts locked away.

I nodded, that was good enough for me. I kept a hand wrapped around my gun, but eventually drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up, Glenn wasn't there. I made sure my gun was still with me, and then checked for my backpack; both were still in place. I sighed in relief, but wondered idly where he had gone. I supposed it didn't matter. I stood up and pulled my backpack on. It was time to get moving, so I walked towards the door.

Just as I reached for the handle, the door opened and I jumped back. Glenn was standing on the other side. "Jesus," I muttered, "you scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," he said, although he seemed slightly amused. "Where are you going?" He looked at my backpack.

"Thanks for letting me crash here, but I need to get to Horizon."

"I know. I'm coming with you."

"I'm not so sure—"

Glenn cut me off. "I'm coming," he insisted, "all you have is a gun. I have knives, a crossbow, _and _a gun. Do you really think you can make it all the way to Horizon _alone_?"

"I've made it this far alone," I said defensively.

"I don't care. I'm coming."

It didn't seem there like there was a point in arguing, and I needed the extra weaponry anyway. "Fine. But we're leaving now."

Glenn nodded and walked over to the corner we'd slept in the night before. He packed up his things and came back to the door. He waved his arm ahead of us. "After you."

I walked out the door and onto the street, scanning for any movements, but I didn't see anything. "Which way?"

He pointed to our right and we began walking. It would only be a matter of time before we made it to Horizon.


End file.
